Two months in a flashback
by sabaku no Inumi
Summary: Naruto taught Gaara how to learn faster by using clones. Gaara then decided to let a clone join in a friendship mission with Konoha. What he didn't think about was what kind knowledge and experience he would get when the clone dispearsed. There will be lemons!
1. 1 - When the clone dispearsed

Temari watched as the elders continued to nag Gaara, as he sat silently behind his desk. The old geezers were once again questioning his leadership for another silly reason. Simply, they didn't believe peace between villages could exist, insisted that the friendship with Konoha was naïve and foolish. A sudden noise snapped her out of her thoughts. Gaara made a sound as though all of the air was punched out of his lungs and had to hold on to the desk. His face went white as a sheet, flushed bright red, and then paled to white again. "What is happening, Kazekage-sama!" one of the elders asked, alarmed. She ran to her brother and tried to snap him out of it, as he stared blankly for a couple of seconds. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, as his other gestured for the elders to leave. Temari escorted them out of the room, while they protested loudly, casting a worried glance at her brother. As she closed the door, Gaara stood and walked around the office, and Temari noticed sand twirling around his feet, revealing great turmoil inside him. His face had turned crimson again. "Gaara, are you all right? What is going on?" she asked cautiously. Suddenly he collapsed back into his chair and covered his face with his hands. She walked over and squatted next to him, "Gaara, please say something". She had never seen him react this way. His hands dropped, revealing a wide smile on his face. Temari panicked. ~What the hell is he smiling about at a time like this!" she thought as she stood and took a step back.

"I am going so going to kill that idiot, if she haven't already" he chuckled.


	2. 2 - Learning a trick

Two months earlier

"Kakashi-sensei told me I could do it because I'm a jinchuuriki, so I figured you could too!" the blonde told him excitedly. "It's how I learned the rasenshuriken in no time!" he continued. This could actually be interesting. "How does it work?" Gaara asked his blonde friend. "Kakashi-sensei gave some long-ass explanation of how it works and stuff, but I didn't really get it. But he showed me how it works and it's really cool! Let me show you!" he said and jumped out of his seat and headed for the door. Gaara sighed and followed his friend outside. When he got there, Naruto had already made a clone. Great, now there was two of them. "Ok!" Naruto exclaimed. "Now you make a clone, and then you transport our clones to the other end of the city on your sand" he ordered, and so Gaara did. As he watched his clone disappear, he thought to himself ~I hope this is not a waste of time~.

As the clones landed at the edge of the city, Naruto got even more excited. "Now we play rock-paper-scissors! And whoever loses has to buy the other ramen!" he said with a grin. Gaara looked quizzically at the blonde. It was quite obvious Kakashi-san had done the exact same thing with him and Naruto had won. However, he obliged. "Rock-paper-scissors!" Naruto yelled. Naruto chose rock, Gaara had chosen paper. Naruto was devastated, clutching his head and screaming something along the lines of 'but I was supposed to win'. "I guess I owe you ramen" he mumbled to himself. "Now we just disperse, and you'll see what I mean" he said with half a smile, still sad he'd lost a round of ramen. The clones released.

The real Gaara looked at the real Naruto. "Interesting" he admitted, as his friend's expression changed into despair over loss of ramen. When the clones dispersed, the knowledge had not been lost, but returned to the original. This definitely had some practical uses, Gaara thought to himself as they made their way back to his office.

Why was Naruto in Suna?

A month prior the Hokage had written a letter to Gaara, about arranging a training mission with ninja from both Suna and Konoha, as a way to 'strengthen inter-village relationships, and share knowledge'. He'd deemed it an intriguing idea, and agreed. After receiving the list of participants from Konoha, he'd made a list of ninja from Suna, who were fit for the mission. The only problem was, only two Suna ninja were not still sceptical of the relationship with the leaf. His brother and sister. He had sighed at the problem, and decided that this had to be a public thing with a publically available report, so as to encourage others if it became a recurring event. If what Naruto had just showed him, worked as well as it seemed, Gaara himself would be able to join the mission and add a little weight to the scale. It seemed reasonable, also because Temari kept bugging him about socialising more. The ninja from Konoha, who had been sent for the mission, had just arrived the same afternoon, and was to leave with the Suna ninja the following morning.

Gaara dismissed Naruto and asked his secretary to call for his brother and sister, who arrived within a minute. "I will be joining the mission" he announced. Temari looked at him, puzzled. "You can't just leave your responsibilities here" Kankuro started to protest, before Gaara held up a hand to silence him. He explained his plan to his siblings, and soon they were just excited to have him with them. "You wouldn't have to make a clone in order to come, is only the leaders of Ishigakure had agreed to set a later date for your meeting" Temari reminded him. "Their arrival means you have to leave the mission a week earlier, Temari, your presence will be required for the meeting" Gaara pointed out. "Aww, no fair, can't I leave a clone when I go so I don't miss the fun?" she pouted. "Whether you try or not is not up to me" he said shortly, and pulled out a summoning scroll. He added a few things to the scroll, including a drop of blood, and handed it to Kankuro. "Should the clone disperse and you find the mission or it's participants in immediate danger, you will be able to summon me with a short delay. I will be summoned, but I will be allowed to deal with whatever I am in the middle of first" he explained. Then he dismissed his siblings and wrote a notice of his participation in the coming mission to the elders and councilmembers, describing the manner of his participation, so as not to cause an uproar.

Meanwhile, the Konoha ninja were gathered in a collegium, with several rooms and a common room. The Konoha ninja, being fonder of Suna, than Suna ninja were of Konoha, were many more, than the sand siblings. As Naruto came running in, the small crowd invited him into the card game they were playing. Around the table he saw the faces of his comrades; Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Lee, Neji and Sai. More had wanted to come, but for now, these had been chosen because Tsunade had known the only sand ninja willing to go would be the sand siblings. She'd figured it would make a first-time friendship-mission easier, if people knew each other and were on good terms. "How was the Kazekage?" Sakura asked. The blond shrugged, "I think he was good, but he doesn't say much" he said with a short laugh.

"Well, I don't want to be a buzzkill, but we should really get some rest. We're leaving early tomorrow" the pink-haired konoichi said and got up. The two other girls got up with her, and together they went to the room they shared.

In his private quarters, the Kazekage prepared for the following day. It had been ages since he'd been on a mission. Or with a team anywhere for that matter. Maybe Temari was right, maybe a little socialising wouldn't be too bad.


	3. 3 - Sleep

Gaara opened his eyes. He hadn't slept, but the meditation had helped almost as much. It was early, and the sun had barely risen outside. He had a somewhat odd sensation in his stomach, which he was sure Temari would say was excitement. To him it felt like something ominous.

In the collegium Naruto was just putting the finishing touch on his new masterpiece. Sai looked questioningly at him, knowing that this could not end well. Having majestically drawn a black nose and whiskers on their sleeping, pink-haired teammate using Sais paint, he sat for a moment admiring his own work. "Now that's how you use paint!" he whispered to Sai, and started snickering. Though he tried to contain it, the noise managed to wake Hinata. Hinata, being madly in love with the blonde, shrieked at finding him standing next to her while she was wearing significantly less than her usual attire. The shriek then woke up the kitty, who saw the brush in Naruto's hand and sent him through a wall with a powerful punch. Leaving Naruto in the hands of Ino, who was pretty pissed he'd gone into the girls' room, she then got up and went to the bathroom, sighing heavily at the paint-job.

The commotion had woken up the rest of the group, who now came to brush up and get ready for the journey. "'Morning" Sasuke greeted her as she headed back to the girls' room. She walked over and recieved a tiny kiss on the forehead, giving a bright smile in return. "Urg, barf" Ino shouted from the door, making Sakura wake up and continue back to the room. "Really pig, I know you're jealous, but don't be a sore ass, just because you lost", Sakura smirked at her friend teasingly. A vein popped in Ino's forehead, "I'm just worried he'll tire himself out from kissing that forhead, since there are literally miles of it". Sakura stuck out her tongue with a grin, but as she turned away, Ino saw her expression change. It was only for a second, but she could tell instantly; it was a pained expression.

At the gate, the clone of Gaara waited as his siblings went to get the leaf-ninjas. He thought back to the list of participants. It would be an interesting opportunity to learn about his allies. He had dreaded the sight of the name Uchiha, remembering the arrogant leaf-ninja with less-than-fondness. He didn't really know much about the Hyuga cousins, though he was interested in their abilities, and owed the male a debt, as he was part of the team who saved his life. As was Rock Lee, a man he had a surprising amount of respect for, even enough to consider him a comrade. He had no particular opinion on Sai, the latest member of team 7, Nara Shikamaru, or Yamanaka Ino, though he admitted to finding her aesthetically pleasing. Lastly he thought of Naruto and Haruno Sakura. They'd been the core of the team who saved him, and, as he was told, had received the highest respect from lady Chiyo, the woman who had given her life to recover his. He was always happy to see Naruto, although the blonde quickly tired him out. He had yet to make up his mind about the girl. She was obviously a capable ninja, although he thought a medic would not do very well in combat. As he thought this, the rest arrived, including the girl currently occupying his thoughts. She was beautiful. "We should get going before you get a heatstroke" Kankuro said as Gaara tried to control a blush from having such a thought. However, the blush quickly dispersed when he saw her hand was held ever so slightly by Sasuke.

"We're headed to Hoshigakure" Temari informed them. "It's' supposed to have a team-building-kind-of-ting going on there", she continued, taking point and heading out into the desert. He joined Naruto in the back of the group, deciding not to ask about his friend's black eye.

The trip through the desert was uneventful, apart from when Naruto forgot to drink and saw mirages. They had crossed it in 3 days, continued for a day over the grassy plains to the forests of the Land of bears.

As they camped for the night, Gaara decided to meditate, having stayed awake until now. He let the calmness run through him, though it wasn't long before less calming thoughts started to poke through. It puzzled him that the hand-holding had bothered him. And then he started getting annoyed at the hand-holding again. There had been more of it during the days on the road, as well as some small kisses, which annoyed him even more. After a while he gave up on meditating, opening his eyes, only to notice the hand before it landed on his face. He quickly punched back the assailant, who turned out to be Naruto. The blonde got up and looked the Kazekage, then burst into a roaring laughter. Gaara then felt something on his face. He touched where the hand had been, and found purple paint. He glimpsed Kankuro peeking out from behind a tree, snickering. Upon further inspection he found, that he had received a full handprint on his face. He engulfed the two idiots in sand and went to wash his face. But after an hour and a half at work, he had only made little progress. The paint was not coming off.

"I see you're another victim of Naruto's" Sakura said as she approached, startling Gaara momentarily. She was surprisingly stealthy. She giggled at the hand print, as well as the annoyed face of the Kazekage. "I have something that might help" she said, showing him a small vial, containing what looked like an oily substance. He nodded shortly, and watched her moving closer. She handed him the vial, and had to control a laugh, as he moved to pour some onto his face. He looked at her quizzically. "You're supposed to put it on your hands and rub it onto your skin" she told him. "Usually, people do not dare touch me" he glared at her, then back at the camp. Taking a deep breath, she moved in front of him. "Well, Naruto is a special kind of dumb, but since you've given up the hobby of killing people and instead earning their respect, I assume you want be accepted. Part of having friends is to accept that people will get close" she said as she raised her hands and looked at him for approval. Realizing what she was silently asking permission for, all his instincts told him to get the hell out or crush her or something. But instead, he turned his head towards her and closed his eyes. Taking this as an approval, she put a bit of the oil on her hands and started gently rubbing it on the painted areas. "You know, we barely dug out those two before they suffocated" she said, her voice revealing a smile. "That's a shame" he commented. He sat with his eyes closed, listening to her soft giggle, and feeling how she gently massaged the oil onto his skin, as he let himself relax.

Suddenly he woke up to the sound of birds chirping. His head was resting on a small bundle, a blanket covered his body. Had that whole thing been a dream? Wait, he'd slept!? He quickly sat up and scouted his surroundings. He was in the same spot where he'd been sitting as she cleaned his face. As he touched it, he found no remains of the handprint on his face. Temari seemed to be on guard duty, because she'd seen his commotion and came over. "Sakura sad you'd fallen asleep, so she got you a blanket and a pillow" She said, looking at her little brother, wondering why he looked so stressed. Gaara stood, grabbed the blanket and bundle, and handed them to her. "I'm going to scout ahead" he said, dispersing in a whirl of sand.

~I slept!?~


	4. 4 - Inconvenient truth

As they continued their journey, Ino was keeping an eye on her friend. Truth be told they hadn't seen each other much back in Konoha, before the trip. They'd both been incredibly busy. Ino had been on a lot of long missions and Sakura was put in charge of the hospital. They hadn't had the chance to really hang out for close to a year. And now she was acting weird. She seemed happy, but at the same time there would be glimpses of something painful in her expression. What was the cause of that expression? She was the start apprentice of the Hokage, a world-class medic ninja and a year ago, after so many years, she had finally won the heart of the man she'd been in love with since she was a small child!

Their last stop before Hoshigakure was in a small village in the forest, and Ino decided that she would try to get some information. Keeping her eye on Sakura through the corner of her eye, she noticed small things. Sometimes Sakura would try to hold Sasukes hand, and only receive a short, cold glare as he walked away. They'd have small conversations where she would make tiny, pained expressions, while smiling brightly at anyone walking by. But there were also times where they genuinely seemed happy. Well, as happy as the aloof Uchiha could seem.

As the others started to leave the common room of the small inn they were staying at, to go to their rooms, Ino urged Sakura to stay a bit longer. When they were finally alone, they talked and laughed for a bit, about all the things they'd missed since they last were together like this.

Ino chuckled at a story Sakura told, one from working at the hospital, and cleared her throat. "I actually wanted to ask you about something", Ino told her with a worried expression appearing on her face. "You seem happy with Sasuke... but sometimes you seem really miserable too..?" she said hesitantly.

Sakuras smile turned into a sad one. She was quiet for a while, worrying Ino. Had she stepped in something she absolutely wasn't supposed to? "It's… difficult to explain" Sakura slowly started, "I know it's a horrible thought, but I really wished it could just be ordinary". Her eyes became watery. "He has gone through so much, lost so much, but it just makes it so hard. I wouldn't tell him this, he wouldn't understand. Or worse, he would understand, but he wouldn't be able to not resent me". Ino tried to say something, but what could she say. "We were once away for three months on a mission, and I casually told him that I missed my parents, because it was my mother's birthday. He spat at me that I was ignorant and childish, and that I didn't know what it meant to actually miss one's family. He was so angry at me. No matter what happens to me, his pain will always be greater. No matter where we go forward, his past will hang as a shadow over him, and it will never let go. He is forever marked by it. A wedding, a family, a future, a life, a normal life, would never feel right, because of all that he lost, all that he misses every single day. There is a hole in him, created by loss and sorrow, that can't be filled. And I am a horrible person, for wishing that his life had not been so full of loss, so that we could have something normal" she finished, whipping a tear away.

Ino was at a loss for words. All she could do was stare at her hands, and letting Sakuras words sink in. As she moved to talk, Sakura spoke again; "But I love him. It's a little rough right now, but no one said it was supposed to be easy" she smiled sadly. Before Ino could respond, Sakura got up and headed for the stairs; "come on, we'd better get some sleep. We wouldn't want to arrive all exhausted" she said, only looking back once, with a mask of a smile on her face, as she stepped onto the staircase. Ino wanted to stop her, hug her, but before she knew, Sakura had disappeared upstairs, leaving Ino with a feeling similar to when someone punches all of the air out of your lungs. She was sad, empty, angry and most of all she felt helpless, being unable to help her friend, who was obviously suffering.

She decided to go for a walk around the city, pondering what Sakura had said. As she arrived back at the inn, she noticed a figure on a near rooftop. She wondered what the Kazekage was doing out this late, but shrugged and decided to go to bed.

The redhead on the rooftop was deep in thought. Hands folded in front of his face, elbows resting on his knees, he was being haunted by the pained smile he had seen on her face a little earlier, through the window.


	5. 5 - Mio

Naruto was the first to see the watchtower of Hoshigakure. Jumping down through the branches of the tree, he excitedly told his friends. Hinata activated her byakugan, "you're right, it's only about 5 km or so" she elaborated, giving Naruto a bright smile. Sakura was so happy to see, that she'd finally gotten some self-confidence, even though she had yet to muster the courage to confess to Naruto. As they entered the village, they followed the main road to the village market and down a side road to the teambuilding camp. The receptionist welcomed them and showed them to their rooms. The rooms were comfortable, with four beds and a small couch in each, as well as some lockers and nightstands, and wide windows overlooking a small park with a lake.

As everyone got settled in, they were visited by Haruka, the leader of the facility. "To all of you; welcome", she said to the gathered shinobi. "I'm really excited to have you here, and implore you to let me know if there is anything I can do for you. Also, I have been asked by the head of our village, to invite the honoured Kazekage and a delegate from Konoha to his office. Other than that, please feel free to use this day to get comfortable here and get to know the city".

Gaara stood and headed for the door, when he heard Sakuras voice; "Tsunade-sama has asked that I extend an offer on my services to the medical clinic, so this will be a nice opportunity to do so". She walked over to Gaara and waved to the others as they headed out. As they walked, Gaara found himself annoyed. "Is Lady Tsunade trying to better bonds with Hoshigakure as well?" he asked, annoyed that he had not been informed. Sakura laughed a bit; "actually it was my idea, I requested permission to do this" she told him. "It's well known that Konoha medics are very capable, and I wanted to pass knowledge between villages. It's sort of a personal mission to spread the ability to heal as far and wide as possible, so as many people as possible can get help if they are hurt or injured". Gaara watched her as she explained with a tender look on her face.

They entered the city hall, and was escorted to the village leader. Gamasu Shin was a fairly old man, but very popular with his people. He welcomed the two, an after much talk of inter-village relations and politics, Sakura extended her offer. "I know well of you, Haruno-san. You were mentor for a young woman from this village some time ago, my daughter in fact. She runs the clinic now, and I'm sure she would be overjoyed to see you". "Hari is your daughter? I'm not at all surprised, she carries herself with excellent grace. With her talent I'm not surprised that she is head of the clinic either" Sakura said, overjoyed. When they returned outside, Sakura bowed slightly to Gaara; "You should head back to the others, I will be back later" she said with a smile and headed off towards the clinic. To her surprise, Gaara was soon walking beside her. "I represent the Sand. Temari would be horrified if I passed an opportunity as this" he rationalized. In truth, he was a bit curious to see the medic at work.

As they got to the clinic, Sakura was immediately tackled by a short woman, presumably this Hari. Sakura introduced her to the Kage, and then she gave them a tour of the clinic. Along the way, Sakura helped with some of the patients and gave a few suggestions for treatment. Gaara noticed a young boy with the same fiery red hair as himself, only to mentally panic when the boy saw him, and came running yelling at the top of his voice "DAD".

Both Sakura and Hari squeaked, as the young boy jumped up and clasped his hands around Gaaras waist. His mother came running and apologized, trying to pull the boy away from Gaara without much success. Without hurting the boy, Gaara created a small wall of sand between them. As soon as he landed on the floor, they boy started crying his eyes out. Sakura went over next to him and sat down, motioning for Gaara to do the same. Hesitantly, he seated himself on the floor next to the child and put a hand on his shoulder. The boy looked up at him; "you're not my dad" he said with tears in his eyes. "No, I'm not" Gaara said as softly as possible. The thought was ridiculous, he hadn't even… well, anything. Fresh new tears started streaming down the boy's face; "Maybe I could hug you anyways?" he sobbed. Disarmed by the child's blind trust, he wanted to pull away, but as he looked at Sakura, she placed her hand on his and gave him a reassuring nod. He swallowed and nodded at the boy, who timidly wrapped his tiny arms around Gaara's neck. "I'm terribly sorry about this" his mother apologized, "Mios father disappeared a while back without any trace, he must have thought it was him because of his hair". Sakura studied the boy; "May I ask why you're here?" she asked quietly as she stood. "He's sick" she answered with a grave face, "very much actually, and the doctors aren't sure what to do" she said as quietly as possible.

Meanwhile, Mio had released Gaara. "Are you hurt, since you're here?" he asked. "No, I am a visitor from another village. My companion is a medic" he told the boy and gestured towards Sakura. Mio looked at Sakura, who smiled in return. Then he looked back at Gaara; "She's pretty. But why is her hair a funny colour?" he asked. Gaara felt a laugh coming, but managed to contain it in a small chuckle, as Sakura sat back down; "That's just the way my hair looks, like yours and his are red" she told him, suppressing her inner voice screaming that –what in hell he meant by funny colour!?-. Her answer seemed to satisfy the child, "when are you going home?" he asked. Sakura explained that they'd be leaving in two weeks' time, "well, you should come by my house" Mio said, "I have a picture of my dad, so if you see him you can help him". "What makes you sure he needs help?" Sakura asked. Mio looked at his mother, who were talking with a nurse; "because he loves my mom. He wouldn't leave, so he probably needs help getting back" he said with a sad smile.

As they left the clinic and headed to the camp, none of them spoke. Sakura was looking through some papers, and Gaara was thinking about the child. With her head buried too deep in the papers, Sakura didn't spot the hole in the road, which she instead stepped into and stumbled. Quickly snapping out of his thoughts, Gaara managed to catch her. He lifted her with ease and for a brief moment he felt his body alive with electricity. For that one, brief moment, he wanted to diasppear completely, but not by himself. He wanted to go far away from everyone and find out how she, a silly, pink-haired girl, had sent him into a peaceful sleep, for the first time in a very long time. "T-Thank you" Sakura stuttered, her cheeks almost the same colour as her hair. Snapping out of it, he gently sat her down, asking "what is that", and gesturing to the papers. "It's Mios medical file, I was hoping I might know something that could help" she said with a worried look on her face.

Arriving at the camp, Sakura was immediately pulled aside by Ino, who shoved her to an announcement board.

 **4-day survival**

 **The participants will be stripped of weapons and chakra, and must corporate in their teams.**

 **Team 1: Sabaku no Gaara, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuga Neji**

 **Team 2: Yamanaka Ino, Uzumaki Naruto, Sabaku no Temari**

 **Team 3: Hyuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Rock Lee**

 **Team 4: Haruno Sakura, Sai, Sabaku no Kankuro**


	6. 6 - Names on paper

He was in the forest. He'd followed her there, he needed to see her, but now he'd lost sight of her in the darkness of just before dusk. Looking all around, he saw a flash of light and caught a glimpse of pink in the middle of blue. Emerging from the woods, he looked over a lake in a clearing where the newly rising moon was reflected. There she was, sitting at the edge of the lake, hugging her knees as she rested her head upon them. As he inched closer, he saw the tears on her face. Boiling under the surface, he felt his anger rising, because he knew. He didn't know what, but he knew why. He'd seen how that man had made her feel, when nobody knew he was watching, he'd seen. He'd seen the pain flash across her face for a moment, always because of him. However, he'd never known the feeling that for the first time suppressed his anger. In every inch of his body, he felt the need to see her smile, to wipe the tears away. She didn't move as he kneeled next to her, as if she had no idea he was there. He wanted her to see him. Slowly, he touched her cheek, pulling her face towards his. As her jade eyes met his cyan ones, her furrowed brow softened, and she gave him a smile he never in his wildest imagination thought he'd receive. He wanted to say a thousand things, but he had no idea what they were. It wouldn't have mattered anyways, because he had no words, nor any air. He could only reach out to her, embrace her with his arms, burrowing his face in her pink locks. Then he woke up. Sitting on his bed at the camp. He must've dozed off while meditating.

"You must've gotten better at meditating, I've never seen you that peaceful" Kankuro said from the other side of the room, momentarily startling his little brother. Gaara shot him an awful glare, telling him to mind himself. He left the room, finding a bit of peace in the dark halls, though he was still trembling from his vivid dream. The Kazekage wasn't stupid. He knew what was going on, although not with certainty or from experience. He felt emotions inside himself, known ones like anger, confusion, happiness, and dread. But there were new ones he barely knew the names of. He ended up at the announcement board, staring at her name on the small piece of paper. He then looked at his own, and felt loathing as he looked at the name next to it; Uchiha Sasuke.


End file.
